Pahalgam massacre mastermind was ex-Pak Para Commando, probe reveals

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New Delhi: Hashim Musa, the Pakistani national identified as the key figure behind the Pahalgam massacre, was previously a para commando in the Special Forces of the Pakistan Army, according to findings from the investigation into the terror plot.

Sources informed the Times of India that Musa, who is now a committed operative of the banned Pakistan-based terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), was deployed to Kashmir by LeT leadership with a clear directive to carry out attacks targeting non-local civilians and security personnel.

“It is possible that he was loaned by the Pakistan special forces like the Special Service Group (SSG), to the LeT,” an officer of the security establishment here said.

A senior official revealed that Musa’s background in the Pakistan Army—confirmed during the interrogation of 15 overground workers (OGWs) in Kashmir who are key suspects in the Pahalgam attack for aiding the Pakistani terrorists with logistics and conducting reconnaissance—is being viewed as further indication of the ISI’s involvement in the incident.

This suspected involvement is also linked to earlier attacks in Kashmir, including the October 2024 strikes in Gagangir, Ganderbal, which claimed the lives of six non-locals and a doctor, and in Buta Pathri, Baramulla, where two Army soldiers and two porters were killed.

Musa has been identified as the key figure behind all three attacks. Alongside him, local terrorists Junaid Ahmad Bhat and Arbaaz Mir—both trained in Pakistan—also participated in the Gagangir and Buta Pathri assaults. However, both were eliminated in separate encounters with security forces in November and December 2024. Since then, Musa has continued the terror campaign, with a major strike at Baisaran that claimed the lives of 26 civilians, including 25 tourists.

The investigation into the Pahalgam attack has revealed the role of a local support network of OGWs and terror facilitators in south Kashmir. This group assisted the attackers by providing logistical support such as shelter and may have also helped transport the weapons used in the assault. Local involvement was crucial in conducting thorough reconnaissance of the target area, enabling the terrorists to identify potential hideouts both before and after the attack.

While the involvement of two Pakistani terrorists, Hashim Musa and Ali Bhai, along with local operatives Adil Thoker and Asif Shaikh, has been confirmed, interrogation of overground workers suggests that additional Pakistani militants may also have been part of the plot. According to a source, search operations in the forested areas around Baisaran are well underway, and the exact site of the attacks is now “reasonably known.”